© 2014 ConceptSpring

Elaine ChenNovember 2014

Defining and Building the MVP

“MVP”

• “M”: Minimum• “V”: Viable• “P”: Product

“The MVP is that version of the product that enables a full turn of the Build-Measure-Learn loop with a minimum amount of effort and the least amount of development time.

- Ries, Eric (2011-09-13). The Lean Startup (p. 77), Random

House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

MEASURE

BUILDLEARN

ProductData

Ideas

Why define each MVP when you know it’s going to change?

How do you define an MVP?

Artifacts (mobile app example)

• Requirements • Workflows and storyboards (user centric)• User stories (user centric)• Flow charts (product centric)• Wireframes• Graphical compositions, a.k.a. “Comps”• Interactive prototypes• Actual native app, as submitted to the App Store or

Google Play

Requirements

Positioning Statement

For parents of children aged 6 or younger

Who need help keeping their children occupied when they are out and about

Playrific for iPhone/iPad is a free mobile application

that lets parents easily select safe, appropriate, parent and teacher approved

games, videos and other digital content for their children to enjoy anytime,

anywhere.

Unlike other child-friendly browsers and video player applications like Zoodles,

Kideos or Webipot,

The Playrific application can be used both online and offline, allowing young

children to be entertained with or without internet connectivity.

Workflows and storyboards (user centric)

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1 2 3

4 5 6

As a… I want to… So that…Teacher have parents reinforce the content we cover at

schoolthe child has a consistent learning experience at home and at school

Teacher tailor the content for a classroom according to my curriculum

the children progresses through learning materials in the right order

Mom control the content my child sees my child is getting educational content while being entertained

Mom have the content automatically refresh based on guidelines I set

my child will not get bored and instead will stay engaged with learning new things

Mom make sure my child does not accidentally go to the wrong sites on the internet

my child sees only age appropriate content that I approve him to see

Mom have my child be able to use the media player all by himself without help from me

I can have enough time to complete small tasks while my child is playing with the media player

Mom be able to run Playrific on my iPhone I can keep my child entertained during a busy day of errandsMom be able to view movies I loaded on my phone from

the Playrific viewermy child can enjoy the content I choose for her while we are on the go

Mom be able to play audio books that I have purchased for my iPhone from the Playrific viewer

my child can keep learning even when we are on the go

Mom minimize mobile broadband data charges I won't have a heart attack when I get the phone bill.Mom minimize battery usage by the Playrific viewer I can still make calls after my child uses my phoneChild have fun and engaging things to look at and games

to playI won't get bored

User stories (user centric)

14https://help.rallydev.com/sites/default/files/multimedia/user_story_callouts.png

Flow charts (product centric)

Splash screen

Setup

First run?

Content home

Skip sign up?

Sign up

Audio book page

Local content

page

Streamed content

page

Yes No

No Yes

Wireframes

Splash screenGraphic that shows iOS

experience

Setup

x

x

First name: *

Email: *

Welcome to Playrific, a content curator and viewer for young children. Please take a moment to set up your child’s information, add offline content if you like, and they will be ready to play!

DoneView tutorial

Allow 3G streaming ON

Automatic update ON

Add local content >

Show online content ON

xLast name: *

xChild’s DOB: *

My contentBack

Audio books >

Camera Roll movies >

Audio booksBack

TitleSubtitle 3:02:55TitleSubtitle 3:02:55TitleSubtitle 3:02:55

Add

-

-

-

Add Audio BookBack

TitleSubtitle >3:02:55TitleSubtitle >3:02:55TitleSubtitle >3:02:55TitleSubtitle >3:02:55TitleSubtitle >3:02:55TitleSubtitle >3:02:55

-

Camera roll movies

Back Add

- - -

Add MovieBack

Camera roll

Media areaSwipe to go to next pageTap each square to enter

media player

“Comps”

Interactive prototypes

Hardware products need functional specs

19

User story (the “What”)• As a “Frustrated Sleeper”

using the Zeo sleep manager to measure my sleep every night, I need to be able to easily charge my headband every morning when I get up, and trust that it’s ready to use when I am ready to take a nap

Functional spec (the “How”)• There shall be a charge dock with

a magnetic receptacle that accepts the headband.

• There shall be a funnel like feature to guide the headband to the right location and make it easy to dock.

• There shall be two electrical contacts – power and ground, which shall charge the headband via the charging circuitry inside the docking station.

• The charging circuitry shall charge a depleted battery to full capacity within 2 hours.

How user stories relate to functional specs

Group Exercise

• Using the Playrific example, come up with the top 3-5 user stories from the child’s perspective

• Persona for the child:– 3.5 years old girl– Knows the alphabet but is not yet reading– Loves looking at footage/pix of herself– Loves to be read to– Favorite character: Dora the Explorer– Very comfortable with the iPhone

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Formulating and testing hypotheses

Customer / Problem Related Hypotheses

Product / Solution related hypotheses

Business Model Hypotheses

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Emails sent

Click through

Signed up for trial

Began using product

Converted to paid subscriber

Free Beta

500

40%

80%

100%

N/A

30 day trial to paid subscription

5000

14%

1 subscriber

Testing hypotheses

• Customer / Problem hypotheses– Detailed interviews– Observation– … etc

• Product / Solution hypotheses– Usability benchmark– Show-and-tell + detailed interview– … etc

• Business model hypotheses– A/B testing on pricing– Analyze sales funnel– … etc

Example: Zeo Mobile

Example: Zeo Mobile

Hypothesis How to test this Hypothesis Can this be tested without a saleable product?

Customers are interested in understanding their sleep issues

Customers are interested and engaged and demonstrate good knowledge during detailed interviews about their sleep

On-line survey about their sleep issues

Yes

Yes

Customers will wear a headband to measure their sleep

Analyze back end uploaded data of existing customers to look at their compliance

Yes, with a non-saleable prototype

Customers will make lifestyle changes to improve their sleep

Sign-up rate for sleep improvement coaching program

On-line survey of existing customers

Yes, with a non-saleable prototype

No – needs customer base

Customers will pay to gain insight into their sleep problems

Purchase intent surveys

Test purchase intent via pre-orders

Analyze sales metrics for the first 6 months of sales to identify patterns in early adopters

Yes

Yes

No

Example: Baxter Robot

Example: Baxter robot

Assumption How to test this assumption Can this be tested without a saleable product?

The uncaged aspect of this inherently safe robot is game-changing

Detailed interviews of potential economic buyers and influencers in target companies

Yes

The fast setup time provides an unfair advantage over the competition

Detailed interviews of potential economic buyers and influencers in target companies

Win-loss analysis of 30 prospective customers

Yes

Yes

No integration is needed to deploy this fully self contained robot

Application engineering analysis of manufacturing line cadence

Test deployments in production lines

Yes

Yes, with non-saleable prototype

Human level speed, payload and precision is adequate for this robot

Application engineering analysis of manufacturing line cadence

Test deployments in production lines

Yes

Yes, with non-saleable prototype

SMEs are a sweet spot for this robot due to the low price

Detailed interviews with SMEs and large companies

Analyze sales metrics for the first 6 months of sales to identify patterns in early adopters

Yes

No

Group Exercise

• Continuing with the Playrific example, come up with the top 3 hypotheses

• For each hypothesis: decide how you will test it– Specify who you will test this with– Specify how, and what props will you need– Think about how much time / $ you need to create

these props– Decide how you will know if you were right or wrong

on each assumption– Think about what you can and cannot test without

having built a saleable product

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On testing business hypotheses

“But my product is not ready!”

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34

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A smart concept: “Concierge” MVBP

• The product works enough to solve a real problem, but is not polished enough to be used without help…

• …so you ship an engineer with every product via a high touch post-sales customer service model

• This method, while very expensive and not sustainable, allows you to enter the market much sooner than otherwise to test your assumptions before you scale up your operations

• You will save money and win in the end by entering the market sooner with a small scale concierge MVBP

The 18 month roadmap

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Year X Year X+1 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4Zeemote JS Product line JS1 improvements JS1.1 JS2 JS3 feasibility SDK's Java SDK Blackberry SDK Symbian SDK Beta Zeekey application Zeekey for S60 Zeekey for BlackBerry

The 5 year roadmap

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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

iOS 1.2b1

iOS2.2

iOS3.0

iOS 2.0

iOS4.0

iOS2.2.1

iOS2.1

iOS3.1iOS3.2

iOS4.1iOS4.2

iOS4.3iOS5.0

iOS5.1iOS6

“Platform strategy”

Building the MVP

What do I need to know to plan the MVP?

• Tech readiness: is this a science project, or do we know how the technology works underneath?

• Time: how long to something tangible and demo-ready, and better yet, saleable?

• Cost: how much $ do I need to spend (on headcount, consulting, prototyping etc)?

• “Are we crazy?”: How long did it take someone else to make something like this, and how much did it cost? (a.k.a. are we crazy?)

• Progress: How do I track progress?• Risk: How do I manage risk and play to win?

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What’s “reasonable”?

• Mobile apps – no science: 0-3 months• Web apps – no science: 0-3 months • Web apps, big data science: 3-6 months+• Embedded software releases (e.g. firmware running

on a car): 6-9 months after the hardware is stable• Small scale mass produced consumer electronics

products : 9-12 months (e.g. a new tablet)• Complex industrial equipment with mechanisms: 12-36

months (e.g. Tesla S)

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Sometimes, it really does take that long. Do it right, or do it over.

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Technology

Prototype

Product

Business

Company

Summary

• It pays to define each MVP. A little time invested up front saves a lot of time in the end.

• Different artifacts are used to define different products – match the output to the product

• Formulate hypotheses clearly and test them individually, one at a time

• Use the right technique to test each type of hypothesis

@chenelaine blog.conceptspring.com

Thank you